The Fox Song, Etc.

Last Saturday, our friends the Hendleys came over. The plan was to eat dinner, then Curt and I would watch the kids (all 4 of them) while our wives did some girly stamping and cardmaking. Well, Curt had a brilliant idea — he brought his ukulele over, along with a “fakebook” (a book of song lyrics with chords written in above the lyrics, so you can “fake” your way through playing the song). We set up my microphone and recorded ourselves (to the utter neglect of our children, but hey, whattaya want from us?). The results are… well, here:

But the real gem of the night was when Curt’s son, Joel, wanted to sing something called The Fox Song. As far as we can tell, this is a song he made up on his own, and it’s GREAT, especially considering he’s only 3! But it takes him about 2 and a half minutes to get to the song — before that, he’s just playing on a 4-note piano while we all wait anxiously for him to sing the Fox Song. I’m including the full recording (waiting for him to start singing is hilarious, in an Andy Kaufman kind of way), but also just the part where he’s singing, which I’ve dubbed the “Radio Edit.”

And now, as if this post weren’t long enough, I’ll include some words from Curt about The Fox Song:

…[Joel] said, “I’ll sing The Fox Song.” He tinkered around for a while, and then he sang a fox song. I think he must have composed it himself. I realize I may just be a proud father speaking, but I know a little something about music, and this was beautiful. First of all, the lyrics are deliciously nonsensical, on a par with anything Lewis Carol ever wrote in his poetry. He also managed to come up with an Aeolian melody, sung almost pitch perfect in a minor key even though his piano played only a major chord. He also displayed a real flair for performance, with subtle intonations and variations that keep an otherwise repetitive tune interesting the whole way through. And he ends with a flourish that is simultaneously surprising and logical, making the entire song memorable by returning to its initial lyrical theme with a strong musical punctuation. Simply beautiful.

Here are the lyrics:

When that fox went away
You can’t climb a tree
You have to sing the words
And without watch TV
When you have a song
You can’t when you move, move… a FOX!!!

(spoken: Hmph. That doesn’t rhyme.)

There’s a little bit more on the recording where he asks if our music book contains the song Mary Had a Little Lamb. That’s not part of The Fox Song, just so you know.